Every Other Weekend
by WakeUpSunshine
Summary: R/T Taylor gets fed up with Ryan's absence from her and their children's life. She decides to leave him, what happens ten years later when she realizes she made a huge mistake?
1. Chapter 1

**So I know I have 4 other fics out there that need my attention BUT 2 of them are coming to an end in less than 4 chapters. A little background info about this. Everything up until season 4 happened. You can either say Marissa died or she just never existed because she's not in this fic at all, never mentioned. Anyhow, Ryan and Taylor went to Berkeley where they started dting. At 23 they got married and at 25 they had their first child. They live in Newport in this chapter but the next will skip 10 years. It is a R/T fic so they do end up together it'll just take a while.**

Chapter 1

Life takes unexpected turns that you wish you control but you can't. Everything can be perfect one second and then the next you're sitting there in complete tears because everything went wrong. I guess that's where you can find me, or the reason why I'm slouched on the kitchen floor staring at my hands about to tell the love of my life that we are over. Tell him that I need to get away. I have to tell him he works too much and barely has enough time for our family. Most of all I have to tell him this eight months pregnant with our third daughter.

It's eleven pm now and I was supposed to be expecting him four hours ago. He's disappointed me, _again_. Which is should get used to since he hasn't been around much since I had gotten pregnant. I wish things didn't have to come down to this. I wish we could stay together like we had always dreamed of.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as the front door to our large home open's and slams shuts. I know what's all about to happen as I shut my eyes slowly anticipating him walking into the kitchen seeing me on the floor. He doesn't though. I don't hear those familiar footsteps and I know he went straight to our room knowing that if the light was on at this time in the kitchen that I was in there. He was avoiding me and I knew it.

I carefully stood up from the floor and waddled my way out of the kitchen switching the light off as I left. He was sitting on our bed unbuttoning his shirt as I stood there in the doorway watching him. Even through everything he still makes me love him. He can still get me all riled up for no reason. But that just wasn't enough anything. I couldn't go on with him doing this to our family. I wouldn't have it.

That's why I had made the choice a month ago to look for a job in LA. I'm a child's psychologist, and there was this small place in LA that was looking for someone so I jumped at the opportunity knowing that leaving him here was the only way I would be able to go on. He doesn't look at me as he kicks off his shoes leaving them in front of him on the floor. I can't stand this so I walk over and put the shoes in the closet like I had told him to do numerous times before.

"What are you doing up?" He breaks the silence that was in the room. I put my hands on my stomach and glare at him. I don't know if I would have been so upset on any other day but today was special, today was our 7th anniversary. This day 7 years ago I married the man I loved and now I'm about to ask for a divorce.

"Where were you?" I ask taking a deep breath because our daughter had just decided to kick me in the bladder. He groaned and looked up at me like I was supposed to know where he was. Sure I knew he was probably working but I needed to hear him say it. I needed him to give me a good reason as to why he wasn't home when he said he would be. To be honest if he had remembered what today was I wouldn't be leaving him. I had it all planned out, the whole night. The girls were even with his parents where they would be until I'd pick them up the next afternoon.

"I'm going to bed." Is what he said to me. That wasn't the answer I wanted.

"I want a divorce." I'm pretty sure I caught him off guard because he had fallen off of the bed onto the floor. If it were any other moment I would have probably laughed at him.

"You what?" He stuttered his words.

"You heard me. I want a divorce. I'm packing tomorrow, the girls and I are moving to LA. We're through, Ryan." I couldn't look at him as I said this to him. I didn't want to see his face. I definitely didn't want to see what type of emotion his eyes were holding.

"You can't be serious." I could hear him get off of the floor as I made my way into the bathroom that was attached to our bedroom. "Dead serious. I think you should sleep on the couch tonight." I said all of this in the bathroom as I leaned my weight on the sink in front of me.

"Taylor, you can't do this." Oh, but I could. It's what I needed to do as much as I didn't want to. He had promised me months ago he would cut back on work and help with the girls but he had only got caught up more into his work leaving me to raise the girls basically on my own.

"Do you know what today is?" I walked over to the doorway. He was now sitting back in his position on the bed with his hands in his hair. He looked up and shook his head no.

"Go sleep on the couch." I pointed towards the door wanting him to leave the room immediately before I threw the vase that was sitting not two feet from me at his blonde head. He stood up abruptly grabbing a pillow and stumping out of our bedroom leaving me to break down just like I had the past four hours. I crawled into the bed and curled my body into as much of a ball as I could placing my hand on the roundness of my stomach.

"Everything's going to be okay." I whispered to myself and to the growing baby inside of me.

The next afternoon as I picked the girls up from the Cohen's I asked Sandy, Ryan's foster father, to talk. "What's going on?" He clapped his hands together as we reached his home office.

"I was wondering if you could help me divorce Ryan." I didn't look into his eyes as I said all of this. I knew his face had probably fallen or he hadn't really expected me to say that.

"Oh Taylor, are you sure?" I could hear the disapproval in his voice. I only nodded keeping my eyes to floor. I heard him take a deep breath as he put an arm around my shoulder

. "Did you talk to Ryan?" He asked me wearily.

"Yeah. I'm moving to LA with the girls. I have a job lined up for me already and I've been looking at houses." I said to him confidently so he knew this was all my decision.

"I'll help, Taylor but don't think I'm supporting this decision but knowing you I know you've thought it over already." He said to me.

I had thought it over and over again in my head. I spent most of my time thinking about it wishing that I could find a good valuable reason to stay besides I still love him and our daughters but it's just not enough to keep me there. I need the love returned, and lately I haven't felt that love returned. Maybe Ryan Atwood has fallen out of love with me, I'll never know.


	2. Chapter 2

**I've spent the last 8 hours in a car which resulted in this chapter. I'm off to work on my other stories! Please review and tell me what you think?**

Chapter 2

"Kelsey Elizabeth Atwood if you do not wake up now I am going to ground you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs up the stairs to my now 15 year old daughter. It had been 10 years since my divorce from Ryan. Since then we have been sharing custody of our three daughters. I've barely said a full sentence to the guy since everything was settled. You'd think the two of us could at least speak to each other after everything we had been through.

The only information I get about Ryan comes from Kelsey or Jory. Even they don't like to tell me much. Kelsey tells me I'm the one who wanted the divorce so I have no right to ask questions about my ex-husband. Her words hadn't caught me off guard, I had always taught my girls to say what exactly was on their mind.

Kelsey had taken the divorce the hardest since she was 5 when it happened. Jory didn't understand anything being only 3 at the time and well Millie wasn't even born yet.

"Mom, you know she's going to wait until the last minute to get up." I turned around to face my 13 year old daughter. I have no idea where I had gone wrong with that girl as I look at the outfit she is wearing. How I have a daughter who only wears black is beyond me.

"Jory, would a little color kill you?" I groaned crossing my arms over my chest. In the past year she had decided to rebel, I guess wearing skimpy black clothes is rebelling enough.

"Don't start, mom." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Go get her or you're both grounded." I huffed and walked off from my daughter. Truth was I could not ground my daughters. I wasn't even sure how one would go about grounding them. From what I've heard Ryan is much harder on them than I could ever be.

"Mama, I can't find my shoes." Millie, my 10 year old, stomped her way down the stairs and into the living room where I was standing.

"They should be by the door where you left them, Mill." I shrugged knowing that's exactly where she usually put them.

"Oh thanks." She flashed me the famous Atwood smile. She looked the most like Ryan. Her personality is all me though. She's very smart for being 10, she's also in these gifted classes in school. When she was younger she never understood why her mommy and daddy didn't live together. I remember explaining it to her numerous times but only in the past year and a half has it really stuck with her. She tells me sometimes she doesn't find it fair, which completely breaks my heart.

Kelsey looks just like I did at her age but has Ryan's broody personality. The girl talks as less as he does, it gets annoying sometimes when you're trying to ask her questions and she just shrugs you off or answers with only one word. She's very into school, though. She's already planning on taking over Ryan's architecture company once she's done with college.

Now, Jory is difficult to explain. She has a mixture of both Ryan and I in her features but her attitude and personality come from somewhere totally different and I haven't been able to point it out exactly. She's the least interested in school as much as I try to push her she just doesn't like it. She says it's a waste of time. I tell her she's wrong but arguing with Jory is like arguing with a brick wall.

"Jordyn, go change now." I said glared at Jory who had just come down the stairs in a different outfit from before. She glared back at me for calling her by her full first time. I particularly loved it but my stubborn daughter just wouldn't have it. She looked down at her attire like she didn't know what was wrong with it.

"What's so wrong with what I'm wearing?" She asks innocently.

"What's wrong with it? Jory your skirt barely covers your butt and that shirt is far too low now go change because I'm pretty sure your father would kill me if he sees you wearing that." I kept my voice stern. "Oh, and take that make-up off of your face while you're at it, too." I yelled after her as she walked up the stairs. I had no idea what to do with that girl.

"Kelsey!" I knocked rapidly on her door. I could hear no movement coming from inside her room. Suddenly the door opened and standing in front of me was a scowling teenager.

"I'll be down in a second." She looked like she was about to bite my head off.

"Kelsey, you're not even dressed! Have you even packed?" I stood there in her doorway with my arms folded across my chest. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes, mother." With that she shut her door in my face. It didn't hurt my feelings anymore, not like it had the first time she had done it. I decided to go downstairs to wait on them.

This Saturday morning was no different than every other Saturday morning that the girls went to stay with Ryan for the weekend. He got every other weekend and certain holiday's with the girls, the rest of the time they were living with me in LA.

"Kelsey! Jory! The car is pulling out of the driveway in 5 minutes and if you aren't in it then you aren't going!" I yelled up the stairs. That seemed to work because the next second they were both running down the stairs with their overnight bags. Jory had changed from her skirt into a pair of long black pants, she hadn't even changed the shirt. I decided to just let it go and let Ryan deal with it.

"Daddy said he would teach me how to drive today." Kelsey said propping her feet up against the dashboard in the car. I quickly hit her legs to put them down but got returned with a scowl. She reluctantly put them back on the floor.

"You should drive Rebecca's car and wreck it." Jory snickered in the back. Rebecca was Ryan's current girlfriend. He'd been with her for the past couple of years. Sometimes it hurts to think he could move on from me but then I realize this was all my choice so I have to deal with him being with someone else.

"That sounds like a great idea," Kelsey's face brightened up. From their conversations about Rebecca I gathered that the girls didn't like her. Summer Cohen, my best friend and Ryan's sister-in-law, told me that Rebecca was a complete bitch only being with Ryan for his money. I didn't care how she treated Ryan as long as she was nice to my daughters. They loved their visits with Ryan and I hated to think they were ruined by this other woman.

"That's not very nice, what has Rebecca done to you?" Millie spoke up from the back. She never talked about her father's girlfriend so I never asked if she liked her or not.

"Mill, you can't be serious! She's a bitch!" Kelsey said loudly.

"Watch your mouth." I told her strictly.

"Whatever, but she is." Kelsey slumped back in her seat crossing her chest with her arms. I glanced in the back to look at Millie. She was reading some sort of book, she looked very entranced in it.

"What are you reading there, Mills?" I asked the ten year old. I heard her take a deep breath before explaining to me the book she had in her lap. She always had a book in her hands, the girls picked on her saying she was a book worm or a nerd. I had told them there was nothing bad about reading a lot and liking school as much as Millie did. I just hoped to God my daughter would have friends throughout her school years. I had none at Harbor. I didn't have any friends really until I had started dating Ryan at Berkeley, that's when Summer and I had become best friends, too.

"Mama, can you please stay for a little bit at Grandma and Grandpa's?" Millie asked out of nowhere. I hadn't been inside the Cohen's house in ten years since that day that I had asked Sandy to help me with the divorce. I just didn't want to be reminded of everything I'd been through with Ryan. I didn't know what to tell her but as I looked in the rearview mirror I just couldn't tell her no.

"I can stay for a little bit." I'm pretty sure I shocked my daughters by saying that. It hadn't been the first time one of them had asked me to stay but it was the first time that I had agreed to stay. As we pulled up into the Cohen's driveway I saw that Ryan's car was already there. I took a deep breath and parked the vehicle. I was suddenly rethinking this visit. I couldn't disappoint Millie though. She had asked so sweetly for me to stay.

"Mom, are you sure about this?" Kelsey put her hand on my arm to for reassurance. I nodded and gave her a genuine smile. "Only if you're sure, I know you haven't been in the same room with daddy in so long and on top of that I'm pretty sure Rebecca will be here with him."

"Kelse, I think I can handle being in the same room as your father. It's not like I'm still in love with him." I hadn't noticed that I had bitten my lip until Kelsey gave me this strange look. She said that every time I was lying it's exactly what I did. I never noticed it but Kelsey would be the one to, she was very perceptive.

"If you're sure." She took a deep breath and the two of us got out of the car. Standing in front of that door brought back way too many memories. I took Kelsey's hand and she gave mine a squeeze.

"Promise not to leave my side." I glanced at my 15 year old daughter.

"Promise." She smiled at me letting go of my hand and opening the door to the Cohen mansion. Stepping inside was like going back to ten years ago when Ryan and I were truly happy. As soon as we walked into the house I ran into a dark haired tall woman. She was beautiful, she looked so much like a model. I gasped realizing this was Ryan's girlfriend but glancing down and catching the glimmer of a diamond I realized she wasn't just a girlfriend anymore, she was a fiancé.

"Mom, come on." Kelsey urged me into the kitchen. Rebecca gave me a strange look, she hadn't been expecting me to come into the house. Upon walking into the kitchen I realized my other two daughters were talking to Ryan about something or other.

"Taylor!" I heard the squeal of my best friend from behind me. I turned around was met with a grinning Summer Cohen.

"Sum!" I cried running and hugging her tightly. I hadn't seen her in 5 months only keeping in contact with her through calls and emails. I had missed her so much.

"I can't believe you're actually in here." She laughed as we broke away form our hug. I shrugged knowing that she knew I was really uncomfortable being in here. I turned around to be met with a hug from Sandy. Through the years I had even lost contact with him and his wife. I would just drop the girls off here for Ryan to take them back to his house, the same one I had once lived in with him. Now it was some other woman's house.

"This is a surprise." Sandy smiled at me. He was aging quickly but other than that the man hadn't changed much since the last time I had seen him.

"I know, Millie wanted me to stay for a little bit and I just couldn't tell her no plus I haven't seen you or Kirsten in awhile so I thought why not." I said nervously. Sandy just nodded me before telling me that Kirsten was at the store and that she would be very happy to see me.

"Mama, did you meet Rebecca?" Millie came up next to me. I saw the look in my baby girl's eyes and I knew she wanted me to be nice to the woman. I gave her a slight smile before pulling her into a hug.

"I ran into her upon entering the house but I haven't been formally introduced to her."

"Taylor, can we talk in the other room." Ryan's voice as surprised me. I looked up and saw my 40 year old ex-husband standing in front of me looking more handsome than ever. I wasn't sure if I was ready for this even after 10 years. I nodded and followed him into the living room sitting down on the couch as far away form him as I could possibly get. I heard him take a shaky breath running his hand through his blonde hair that was graying ever so slightly.

"I need to talk to you about the girls staying with me this summer. I really want them to spend the whole summer. I think it'd help them get used to the idea of Rebecca being around and I really what them to like her." He spoke quickly. I was about protest when I realized this was really the girl's decision. I would miss them dearly but if this was they wanted then I knew I couldn't say no.

"You'll have to speak to them but I don't see why not. How old is she, Ryan?" I asked nosily. He looked at me like it was none of my business, truth was it really wasn't.

"I don't see why that's any use to you but she's 25." The woman was only ten years older than our oldest daughter. I couldn't believe he'd really go for such a young woman who was barely even out of her teens. I don't know why it bothered me so much but it really did.

"Sorry, it's just she looked so young. Are you two getting married?" I could tell he didn't want to talk about this with me but I just wanted to know something about his life even if I had given up that right ten years ago when I asked for that divorce.

"Her age doesn't mean I can't love her, Taylor. Yeah, we are getting married but I have no idea why you even care. You're the one who left me." Ryan said bitterly. He was right, I did leave him. I gave up on us when I should have stuck around and at least tried to have stuck around and at least tried to repair out marriage. I had taken the easy way out afraid that he'd end up leaving me anyways.

"And I regret it every single day." I hadn't meant for him to hear that but he had and I instantly wished I could take it back, I couldn't though.

"I waited years for you to tell me that, Taylor but you're too late." With that he stood up and walked away just like I had ten years ago.

"Mom what just happened?" Kelsey came into the living room where I was still sitting.

"I basically just told your father that I still loved him." I took a deep breath.

"I knew it! She yelled loudly.

"I miss him so much." My voice was shaky as Kelsey put her around my shoulder. I couldn't believe it was my 15 year old daughter comforting me. "I'm going to head on home. Tell Kirsten to call me later and I'll explain to her why I left before she got back. I love you." I said and with that I slipped out of the house unnoticed. I felt bad not telling my younger girls bye but I knew Kelsey would explain to them why I had to leave quickly.

"It wasn't any better once I returned home. I knew right away how I was spending my weekend. I took out the Ben and Jerry's, planting my butt right on the couch in front of the television. The Lifetime channel was good at making me cry and to be very honest I could use a good cry. Before I went to bed I had my regular talk with the girls. Kelsey had told them everything and to my surprise they completely understood.

Waking up Sunday morning I busied myself with cleaning the house before Ryan dropped the girls off around 5. I took a shower after every room in my house was spick and span. Dinner was next knowing the girls would come home starving.

I heard the door open and slam shut at 5:30 just as dinner was coming out of the oven. I could hear the girls talking about something or more like arguing and I knew it was Kelsey and Jory at it. Millie hated confrontations when it came to her sisters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jory's favorite movie in this chapter (Lost Boys) is only because I was watching the 2nd one when i was writing this. The one that just came out with Autumn Reeser in it. Hmmm. Going to update all of my other fics since i can't sleep. **

Chapter 3

It was all my fault that all of this has happened. I've spent the past ten years putting everything I had into my girls and my job. But my girls have always come first. Always. It was hard to adjust to single life the first few years after Millie was born. But we ended up working just fine on our own. Not a day went by that I hadn't missed how Ryan and I were the first 5 years of our marriage. I had always wondered how Ryan felt about the divorce. Summer had told me that he was beyond depressed at first but he eventually got used to it.

The bad thing about it all was I wanted him to chase after me, to beg me to try again but he hadn't. He signed the divorce papers with ease. It had broken my heart all over again to have it all finalized.

"You okay mom?" Kelsey looked over at me as the four of us picked at our dinner. Ryan had dropped the girls off without coming in just like he had every other weekend.

"Don't worry about me. I'm strong after all I've been without him for ten years plus it's not like he'd still have feelings for me after everything I've done to our family. Then there's the dark haired Barbie he'd marrying. When is that exactly?" I ramble. The girls are used to it by now.

Jory looks like she wants to say something but she's holding her tongue. I wish she would just say it already.

"A month." Kelsey mumbles.

"A month!?" I yell out.

"Yeah, daddy wants to get married before the summer so they can go on a honeymoon before we spend the summer with them." Kelsey explained to e. Wow, Ryan sure wasn't wasting in time marrying this..this whore!

"You really want to spend all summer with them? You know you don't have to If you don't want.." They'd spend every two weeks with Ryan during their summer breaks. I always missed them every week they were gone from me.

"It'd be something different. I mean mom, maybe us being gone will give you time. You know to move on from daddy. He's happy with Rebecca and as much as Kelsey and I hate her we have to support him in this." Jory had finally spoken up. I was a little surprised but Jory idolized her father, she always had.

"She's right, mama." Millie said next. For once Millie and Jory had agreed on something but it was far from what I wanted to hear. They were right though. Ryan wanted this so I had to be okay with it. I didn't know just seeing him the day before would bring so many things back to me but it had and I missed it more than ever.

Kelsey had a totally different expression on her face. I knew she'd do anything to make Ryan happy but I wasn't sure she was willing to do this.

"It's not supposed to be like this," Kelsey cried out "We're supposed to be a family. All 5 of us."

"Blame mom for that one." Jory spoke up. She was right though.

"It's not like daddy was innocent in all of this either. If he had just done what he promised mom then we'd still be a whole family." Kelsey got up from the table slamming her chair against it startling her sisters and I. This conversation had struck a nerve in my daughter.

"I'm sorry." Jory looked away from me and back down at her plate.

"Don't be sorry, Jor. If that's what you really think then stick by it don't feel bad if someone doesn't agree." I tell her. Millie got up quietly taking her plate over to the sink.

"It's Kelsey's night to do dishes, I did them for her twice already, Mama." Millie turned towards me.

"Okay, baby. You don't have to do them. Kelsey will." I smiled standing up and following Millie's lead. I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms. "I love you, Mills." I kissed the top of her head not letting her go just yet. I looked over at my middle daughter as she cleared the table. "I think tonight is a perfect movie night." I let go of Millie.

"Sounds go to me but I pick the movie." Jory's face lit up. I was almost afraid to see what she was going to pick. My daughter was a tad bit dark when it came to things she liked or wore for that matter.

"Not Lost Boys again!" Millie whined when Jory appeared in front of us with her favorite movie. I knew she'd pick that one. "I pick next movie night movie." Millie declared.

"Alright get comfortable. I'm going to talk to Kelsey real quick." I say turning towards the stairs.

Kelsey was sitting up in her bed with her legs propped up to her chest and her phone to her ear. She was talking to Ryan. I could tell because the look on her face was both happy and sad. She wanted this family. My daughter needed a full family and I've ripped that away from her. Instead she gets every other weekend with her father.

"I'm sorry I just think I want to stay here this summer?…It's not about her, daddy!" Me. He thought it was me that didn't want her going. Oh, how I hated hearing one sided phone conversations. "I'm going. I love you. Bye."

"Hey, baby." I walk over and sit on the edge of her bed. She gives me a slight smile but says nothing. "He's just angry with me for what I said." I try. She just shakes her head and rests her chin on her knee. "Look it's a month and a half away so you might just change your mind by then so just tell him that."

"He wants me to intern at his company." She whispers. I thought she'd be ecstatic about something like that. Being an architect like Ryan had been her dream since she was a young girl walking through the buildings that Ryan had designed. At one point I had been very intrigued with these buildings as well.

"And? I thought you'd love to do that." I shifted a little on the bed to look at her better. "Kelsey if this is really about me then I need you to go anyways. Don't worry about me being here alone. I'll be just fine. So I think you should take that internship."

"It's not that…it's just I…there's this guy." Of course, isn't here always a guy? I smile at her wanting her to go on but knowing Kelsey she'll stop right there. "He sort of asked me on a date and if things work out between us I don't want to leave for an entire summer." I was more than surprised for her to go on. Kelsey kept a lot of things like relationships to herself.

"Kelsey, don't stop your life for some guy." I say.

"Yeah, well we'll see how things go." She shrugs and then the openness my daughter had just expressed had gone away. I sighed and stood up from the bed.

"Jory, Millie and I are going to watch Lost Boys if you want to join." I said from her door.

"No, I've seen that movie enough to recite everything each character says." She smiled a bit.

"Alright but it's your turn to do dishes so do clean the up, please. I'm going to see if Millie has lasted through the first 5 minutes." I smile leaving her room.

"She's out?" I laughed approaching the couch where my two younger daughters were. Millie was curled up into a ball fast asleep. Jory was so into the movie that she hadn't even heard me say anything. I sat down in between the two of them pulling Jory close to me.

"Stop." She whined trying to get away from me. I miss the days when she would just let me hold her close, now she had this tough exterior type thing that showing any affection towards me was a huge no-no. "Wait, can I dye my hair black?" She liked to slip that question in at the most random times.

"Yeah, while we're at it maybe let you grow some fangs. I think they'd look just nice on you." I rolled my eyes at her. I'm still unsure how I managed to have such a dark child.

"Whatever, mom." She rolled her eyes right back at me trying to hide back the smile that was creeping up on her lips.

"Is Rebecca nice to your and your sisters?" I asked Jory.

"For the most part. She hates our visits though, she says they take her time away from daddy. I'm not even sure how daddy was able to get her to agree on a whole 3 months of us living with them." She doesn't take her eyes off of the TV screen for a second, it's almost like she's never seen this movie.


	4. Chapter 4

**So, I thought i'd go a different route and do this chapter from Kelsey's POV. It was fun creating her personality. Anyway, to answer your question of LB2 it was cheesy and the plot went too fast but Autumn did a good job for the most part. Oh and about this story you know these girls are part Townsends of course their going to think something up!**

Chapter 4

I refuse to let my parents do this. I refuse to let daddy marry Rebecca and I refuse to let mom let daddy get away. Sure, she's the one who left so technically he let her get away but still, that's completely not my point here. My point here is I need my parents to be together. I need us to be a full family again. My sisters and I deserve a mom and a dad, our mom and dad, together. I refuse to let all of this just get by me. I need a plan and fast.

She's Taylor Townsend and he's Ryan Atwood, according to Aunt Summer they are meant for each other. I can see it in daddy's eyes when he looks at Rebecca that he doesn't really love her. He gets this twinkle in his eyes when he's sees mom or someone even mentions her name. So, I know he still loves her as much as she still loves him.

I've always known my parents were supposed to be together. To be honest at a young age I could see the love in both of their eyes when they even stole a glance at each other. I just wish I could see that everyday now.

So, that's when I decided to come up with a plan. I'd need help. From Jory and Millie mainly but I'm sure Aunt Sumer will help out, I'm pretty sure Grandma Kiki wouldn't protest my little plan either. She says all of the time that Rebecca Long is nowhere near the woman for daddy. She's barely a woman, she's only ten years older than I am and 15 years younger than daddy.

I can't sleep. I've been tossing and turning in my bed for two hours trying to figure out how I'm going to ruin this wedding; make daddy realize he's supposed to be with us and only us. I guess mom needs to realize she needs to do something about it, too. But she's scared. She's always been scared.

Mom has always taught us to stand up for what we believe in. She says if we think something then we should stick by it. She says we're stronger that way. I don't know if she lives by that though. Although with us she does, the woman says anything that comes to her mind. Sometimes I'm glad that I'm more like daddy than I am her.

I knock softly on Jory's bedroom door. I need to talk to her. Even though my sister and I are complete opposites she's my best friend. I count on her to help me through most everything that goes on in my life. I'm met with a flying pillow as I open the door.

"Kelsey, it's too late for one of your compelling talks." She mumbles against the pillow that's being pushed forcefully against her face. I laugh a little. Apparently I do this a lot.

"Come on, Jordyn you know you love these talks." I walk over to her bed. She instantly moves over to let me get in next to her.

"Call me that again and you're dead." She lifts her head up scowling at me.

"I need your help." I say.

"With?" She questions.

"Operation ruin daddy's wedding and make him realize he's supposed to be with mom." I say all in one breath. Jory gives me a strange look like what I just said hadn't registered in her head just yet.

"So you wake me up at 2 am to ask me to help you with this stupid operation when I have to get up for school in four freaking hours?" She's annoyed already.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." I say confidently.

"Screw you, Kelsey. I'm going back to sleep." With that my younger sister bumped me off of her bed where I landed on the floor with a loud thud. "Good night big sister."

"At least tell me you're in." I say.

"I'm in." Good. I need Jory for this to work. Now all I need is Millie's brain and I'm good. I know she'll be awake. Even if she does fall asleep while watching movies the girl can't sleep for more than three hours at a time. It's unhealthy but if she didn't do it like that then she wouldn't be Millicent Summer Atwood.

"I know you're up." I open her door without knocking.

"Of course I'm up. The question is why are you up? You're the hardest person to wake up in the mornings." She says matter-of-factly. My family knows me far too well.

"That doesn't matter. I need your brain." I smiled deviously.

"For?" She puts the book she has been reading face down to save her page.

"Plotting!" I say excitedly.

"You want to plot at 2 in the morning?" She looks at me like I'm crazy.

"What's so wrong with now?" I shrug sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"It's 2 in the morning, that's what's wrong! My brain doesn't work at this hour." She says. She's lying. Millie's brain never shuts off. The girls too smart for her own good. It's a little freaky sometimes to hear her speak.

"It's too early to plot operation ruin daddy's wedding?" I say hoping she'll agree to help me out.

"Way too early. Kelsey, give it all a rest. Daddy knows what he's doing." She says.

"God, Millie how can you not see that he's unhappy?!"

"I can see it but daddy's a big boy he can handle himself but…I'm in." She smiles. I knew Millie wouldn't turn this down! As nice of a kid she is I know she hates Rebecca as much as we do, besides that I know she wants mom and daddy together after all they had divorced just days before she was born.

"Awesome!" I reach over and hug her.

"On one condition, we finish this when our minds are more clear."

"Got it." I laugh kissing my baby sister's cheek before getting up from her bed.

"Mom's unhappy too isn't she?" She questions.

"Very." I say to her.

"Thought so." She shrugs before picking her book back up and shoving her nose back into it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ryan's POV. **

Chapter 5

I had no idea just staring into my ex-wife's eyes would bring back so many memories of our seven year marriage. I didn't know that I'd still feel something strong for her still. I know I shouldn't but Taylor was my first _real_ love. The days following the divorce I had been miserable. I missed my family. I missed the way Taylor would talk even if I wasn't fully listening or when Kelsey would giggle. I missed Jory's smile and how she would kiss my cheek every morning after she woke up. I had missed a lot of Millie's infancy since Taylor lived in LA at the point of her birth. She had even made it a point to only let me visit her once in the hospital. It broke my heart to not be in that delivery room with her coaching her through the birth of our youngest daughter.

I had wanted my family back but I hadn't run after them. I had my reasons. Reasons that seemed smart to me but apparently to everyone else they were stupid and didn't make much sense. She left me. She had it all planned. She was determined and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to stop her, so I decided to just give up on us. If it made her happy to leave then I had to let her. Even though I missed her more and more with each passing day.

Weekends with my girls are never long enough. My daughters mean everything to me and I hate that Taylor thought I never put them first. Why did she think I worked so hard? I worked so my family could have everything their hearts desired. I needed them to have everything I hadn't had growing up. Things I hadn't had until I moved in with the Cohen's.

I met Rebecca Long two years ago. It was what would have been mine and Taylor's 15th anniversary. Even though I had a problem with alcohol I had decided to drown my sorrows in it. After all it worked for my parents, maybe it could work for me. I had sat down right down next to her at the bar. The age difference hadn't even come up in our entire drunken conversation. The next thing I knew we were lying on my couch naked our legs entwined together. That's when she told me she was only 23. I glanced over at he and asked for her to repeat that. I couldn't believe I was sleeping with a woman so much younger than I was. A few dates later the age difference stopped mattering.

I admit that Rebecca Long is not even close to the love of my life. That spot is and always will be reserved for my first wife. But moving on with Rebecca had made me less lonely. She was nice enough and she had a great body but she was no Taylor. I remember comparing her to Taylor at the beginning of our relationship but then I realized no one is like Taylor so I stopped caring about that.

The first time my fiancé had met my daughters I had been nervous to the point of wanting to throw up. I don't know why, though. Kelsey had been the most mad at me. She said that I wasn't supposed to be with Rebecca but I was meant to be with her mother. She's right but that's no the way things are now.

The first time I introduced Rebecca to the Cohen's hadn't been any better. Summer had that look in her eyes that she wanted to kill me. Sandy and Kirsten said that if she's who I wanted to be with then they would overlook the large age difference and the fact that she was no Taylor Townsend. Seth hadn't said much because Summer's face told enough for the both of them.

I refused to introduce my ex-wife with my current girlfriend. I had been able to avoid that up until Saturday. Afterwards Rebecca had gone on and on about how she had thought it was rude that Taylor had even come into the Cohen's home after leaving me. I had only gotten pissed off at her and locked myself in my room the rest of the night. Taylor was a sore spot for me.

Then everyone hated me when I proposed to Rebecca. She had been pressuring me lately to make our relationship more secure. I figured asking her to move in was enough. It was difficult to share my house again with someone other than Taylor and my girls but it was nice to have another body around even if she was annoying to be around at times. I'm still not sure I want to marry Rebecca but I guess now that I proposed I have to go through with it. No backing out now.

The look on Taylor's face when she asked me if I was marrying Rebecca had killed me but she had no right to even ask those questions. This was my decision just like her divorcing me was her decision.

"Ryan, come to bed." I was broken from my thoughts by Rebecca. I was sitting in my home office. I glanced at the clock. 3 am. "I'm lonely." She pouted. I hated when she did that. Only Taylor's pout would ever get to me. This woman's pout just pissed me off.

"In a minute." I shrugged.

"No, now. I'm tired and I really can't sleep alone so come on!" She walked over to where I was sitting and plopped down on my lap. She looked at my desk and picked up the picture I was looking at an hour before. It was when my family was whole. Taylor was holding a one year old Millie while Kelsey's small hand was in hers. I had my arm wrapped around her waist pulling her close to me. It had been a perfect day with the Cohen's. I'm pretty sure Sandy had taken the picture. The only person in that picture that wasn't there was Millie. "Give it up, Ry. I don't even see what you saw in that bitch."

"Don't start, Rebecca. I was only looking at that because of Kelsey and Jory." I lied. I had really been looking at the picture trying to remember when was the last time Taylor was truly happy with our family and our marriage. I hadn't gotten that far remembering before my mind had drifted to other things.

"Sure." I could tell she was rolling her eyes.

"Come on." I urged her off of my lap and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you, baby." She squeezed my hand tightly. "Love you." She kissed my cheek.

"No problem." I say. I still have a problem with telling her I love her but sometimes I slip it in.

Once I'm in bed with my arms wrapped around the wrong woman, I can't sleep. I think about my conversation with Kelsey earlier and how she didn't want to spend the summer with me. I figured it was about Taylor, that she didn't want to leave her mother but my problem is Taylor didn't mind leaving me so why should I care to take the girls from her? Although, I do feel bad about taking them the whole summer. I feel bad that she has to stay there alone when I know I shouldn't. but I can't help it.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Rebecca whispers. I grip her waist tighter pulling her closer to me. It's not working.

"Just thinking." I say kissing the top of her head.

"About?" She asks.

"The girls." Not particularly lying.

"Your demons." She laughed a little.

"They aren't that bad." I tell her.

"Yes, they are." She huffs. I hate when she says how she doesn't like the girls. My girls mean so much to me.

"Go to sleep." I finally say annoyed by this talk we're having.

"Night." She sounds pissed off but I could care less.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jory's POV. You'll find out later why Kelsey really wasn't there. Big things are going to happen to the Atwood clan. Hmmm! Can't wait! And don't hate me for the ending of this pretty please!**

Chapter 6

My sister is completely insane but this weekend she has decided to not go to daddy's so it's up to both Millie and I to find something out about Rebecca Long, the woman who could possibly become our step-mother if Kelsey's little plan doesn't go correctly. I agree with my sister that daddy isn't supposed to be with this woman but is he supposed to be with mom? I mean if they were really meant to be together wouldn't they be? Would mom have left daddy when she did if they were supposed to be married? I don't know all I know is I don't want daddy marrying this Newport Beach Barbie who spends more money on a purse than my mom does on my school tuition.

Kelsey's sitting in the back of mom's car with me whispering to me everything I need to find out. Apparently the only way she could stay home for the weekend was if she drove over to Newport with us. I'm not even sure how she got our parents to agree to let her skip on a weekend at daddy's. I just wish she was going to be staying because I really don't want to snoop alone, I will, but I won't like it. Well, I won't be alone, I'll have my smart little sister but still…Millie and I barely get along how does Kelsey think we could work together to help bring down Rebecca?

"Jordyn Rayn Atwood, you need to stop getting so big!" Aunt Julie greeted me at the front door of her mansion. I only rolled my eyes at the old woman and walked past her to find my daddy. Daddy said Aunt Julie wasn't any better at motherhood than Veronica was. He told me she had two daughters. One's gone and the other doesn't keep in contact barely at all. Aunt Julie is married to Uncle Neil, who is Aunt Summer's dad. Sometimes I get confused with all of this extended family but daddy says no matter if these people aren't blood that they are family. I guess he's right but even though Veronica Townsend is my grandmother I refuse to acknowledge the old bat.

"Jory, that was rude." Daddy said coming up beside me. "But it's okay." He leaned over and whispered in my ear smiling. I nod my head.

"So, where's the whore?" I ask point blank crossing my arms over my chest. Daddy doesn't get on to me he only laughs and shakes his head. He knows that mom let's us say whatever is on our mind so he goes along with it. Plus, he probably thinks I got that from my mother. Mom never outright called her a whore but you can totally tell she wants to.

"No idea. Where's your mother?" His eyes lit up. I nodded my head back towards the door. I watched as he walked swiftly to the door to talk to mom. I was surprised. He usually hated talking to her.

"Jor, are you sure you can do this?" Kelsey approached me.

"It'd be much better with you here but I'm sure I can handle this. Now I would really like to know why you're not coming this weekend." I raised my eyebrow at her. She frowned at me.

"None of your business."

"You're bailing on your poor dear sister and you can't even tell her your reason?" I scoffed.

"Jory…don't tell daddy but…" She bit her lip glancing around the room. "There's this guy his name is Jason and he asked me to go out tonight and I just couldn't say no."

"Mom knows?" I ask her.

"Of course. She's the one who called daddy to make up an excuse for me to not come this weekend. Now, please be careful and don't let daddy on to you and your snooping. Keep Millie quiet." She told me sternly.

"Got it, Captain." I nod at her.

"Great, love you sis." She hugged me before walking out of the house.

"Well if it isn't the dark vampire child." I heard her high-pitched voice from behind me. My body cringed. I totally hate this woman.

"Well if it isn't the gold digging bimbo." I turn around to face the tall brunette woman. Sure, she's pretty but she's too tall for daddy. I don't know how daddy figures that this woman is right for him. Obviously she is all wrong considering how she treats both Kelsey and I. Millie's the perfect little angel in her eyes or that's what I over heard her telling Aunt Summer whom I know hates her as much as Kelsey and I do.

"Ry-an! Make her stop! She's such a freaking bitch!" The 25-year old woman stumped when my daddy walked into the room. I laughed at her.

"And you're supposed to be older than me." I rolled my eyes at the woman. Daddy's hand laid on my shoulder and he started telling Rebecca to leave me alone. I shot the woman a satisfied grin. Daddy totally loves me more.

I glanced back and I saw mom standing there. She looked pissed off glaring at Rebecca. I seriously have never seen my mother with such venom in her eyes before. "Wait, who gave you the right to talk to my daughter the way you did?" Mom spoke up which completely surprised everything in the room. Apparently she heard the 'dark vampire child' thing that Rebecca had come up with. Or maybe it was the bitch part?

"I got that right when you divorced my fiancé." Great. Did Rebecca have a freaking death wish? I looked at daddy pleading for him to do something but he wasn't. He was just standing there watching the woman the woman yell at each other.

"Don't you fucking ever talk to me like that! I want you nowhere near me or my daughters." I had never heard my mother use that word. It sort of shocked me. Go Mom! Wait, no. If I wasn't going to be around Rebecca then I wouldn't get to find her flaws! I wouldn't get to find something on her to make daddy not want to marry her! "Jordyn get in the car!" She pointed towards the door. I was about to protest when I saw the look in her eyes.

"Wait, Taylor please don't do this." Daddy finally spoke up. Mom's face actually softened a little at his voice. You could just see it that they were still in love. It was kind of sickening.

"And why not, Ryan? She just called my daughter a bitch! Why you didn't even say anything is beyond me!" The softening of her face disappeared as she glared at daddy. Great, just freaking great. Totally how I wanted to start my Saturday morning. In the middle of a freaking fight.

"I'll deal with that later, Taylor…but please this is the only time I get to see the girls…don't take that away from me." I swear daddy was pleading with her. His voice was soft which in turn softened her face once again. The woman melted at his voice. Wow, my mother had it bad. Still.

"Ry, please just…" My eyes widened when mom called daddy that. She never referred to him as 'Ry' it was always Ryan or my ex-husband but never a pet name. I heard daddy chuckled a little. He had the widest grin on his face.

"Ryan, stop flirting with your ex-wife." Rebecca spoke in from behind all of us. All three of us looked back at the woman. She looked furious.

"If my daughters weren't here right now I would fucking gut you." Once again my mother has blown me away with her amazing choice of words.

"Rebecca why don't you just head home…" Daddy ran his hand through his hair annoyed at the brunette.

"Don't think that's going to happen, baby. Not leaving until you do." She smirked at us. I hated when she called my daddy baby. It was disgusting. Well actually everything Rebecca Long did disgusted me.

"Rebecca, leave!" Daddy was loud. Which in turn made Millie run into the room with Kelsey close behind.

"What's going on here?" My older sister asked us.

"Rebecca called me a bitch." I shrugged.

"Watch it!" Mom and daddy both said at the same exact time. That was freaky. "Sorry." I swear to God they need to stop doing that.

"Rebecca daddy's right you should probably just go home." I turned around to her. She glared at me.

"Jory, stop it." Mom warned with the point of a finger.

"Got it." I nodded smiling at her and then at Rebecca who just gave me an evil grin. I seriously can not see what daddy sees in this woman. I wasn't sure what exactly was going to happen next because mom was still shooting daggers Rebecca's way.

"Mom, I'm going to be late…you know for that…thing." Kelsey widened her eyes at our mother. Mom just nodded looking a little sad. "Bye Jor. Love you daddy." Kelsey kissed him on the cheek and hugged me again. "Bye Mills." Kelsey hugged our youngest sister.

Mom walked over and pulled me into a tight hug. I tried to act like I didn't like when mom hugged me but I actually felt better, safer whenever she would embrace me.

Mom left with Kelsey so now I was in the backseat of daddy's car on the short drive to his house. The one I had lived in the for the first three years of my life. The one he now shared with his new fiancé.

Once there daddy announced he and Rebecca were going out to get dinner. I smiled over at Millie. Perfect time to snoop. "Come on, Millie." I urged pulling her along with me even though she was protesting. "I thought you wanted to be a part of this." I glared.

"I do but…going through her things?" She gave me a strange look.

"Well we need ammo to take her down!" I told her.

"Fine but I'm not touching anything." She told me.

"Whatever, come on." I grabbed her hand and dragged her along with me. Once inside daddy and Rebecca's room I went straight to her jewelry box. Nothing. I walked into the bathroom. Sitting on the counter was something I hadn't been expecting. I screamed for Millie. Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Is that…is that a pregnancy test?" She whispered like someone could hear her.

"Read it." I pushed her towards the sink.

"Jory, that's private!" She stomped her foot.

"Not anymore." I huffed walking over and looking down at it. "Fine I'll read it." I picked up making sure not to touch anything gross on it. No, this wasn't happen. So this was a complete change in our plans when I looked over at Millie she knew. This wasn't good. "Call Kelsey." I was barely able to choke out swallowing hard as I threw the stick down into the sink and stomped off out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know it's short. Next chapter will be longer and in Taylor's POV cause of what happens next...anyway I didn't know how to get rid of Rebecca so...I googled Vasectomy. o.o needed to make sure there couldn't be any major flukes or something...hah.**

Chapter 7

"Ryan, I think we need to talk." Rebecca turned to me in the car on the drive to get food. I was still pissed off at her at how she treated both my daughter and ex-wife. I just glanced over at her before taking a deep breath.

"About?" I ask, maybe she realizes she doesn't love me and she wants to call off the wedding. I can only hope.

"I'm pregnant." I don't think I heard her correctly. I just look over at her and laugh. She can't be pregnant. There is no way she can be pregnant.

"You can't be." I told her.

"I took the test, Ryan and I haven't had my period in two months." She scowls at me.

"No, Rebecca I mean…I had a vasectomy after Taylor found out she was pregnant with Millie." Taylor was four months along with Millie when we decided this. It wasn't as major of a surgery as having her tubes tied so…after much thought and planning we ended up agreeing that it I would have the vasectomy. Plus Taylor was a bit afraid of surgery, and I'd do anything so she wouldn't be afraid.

"Wait a minute, Ryan. You mean to tell me we have been together for two years and you are just now telling me this!"

"It never came up." I shrug.

"It should have!"

"What was I supposed to say? 'oh by the way Rebecca I had a vasectomy?'"

"That's exactly how you should have said it!" She yelled at me. God, this woman was impossible. I didn't find it a big deal, I never thought Rebecca would even want kids.

"It's no big deal, Rebecca. You're not pregnant…well not by me anyway." I looked over at her.

"Are you saying I cheated on you?" She folded her arms across her chest as she got this guilty look on her face.

"I don't know, Rebecca. You go on random trips all of the time, I don't know what you do on those trips."

"I'm a model, Ryan! It's my job to go on random trips. I can not believe you." She huffed sitting back in her seat.

"Rebecca…did you cheat on me?" I looked ahead of me. I wasn't sure if I was going to be upset or not if she said yes but I knew I couldn't marry her if she had cheated on me.

The car was silent the rest of the ride to pick up the food. It was silent on the way back to the house, too.

-

I looked over at my fiancé as she laid on her side of our bed curled up into a ball. She was crying silently as she clutched her stomach tightly. "Rebecca…" It was the first thing I had said to her all evening. She hadn't spoken to me either. She hadn't spoken at all the rest of the day, actually.

"What?" She turned over to look at me. I was about to reach out for her but I knew I couldn't. I knew that I didn't love her so there was no possible way that I could comfort her right now.

"We can't do this…Rebecca, that's not my baby and judging by the silence in the car you have cheated on me." I say. She didn't look at me as she cried. "You don't love me, Rebecca. If you really did love me then I doubt you would have even considered cheating on me."

"But…you're wrong, Ryan. I do love you! Even if this baby isn't yours can't you raise it as yours? Please, Ryan you can't leave me! I don't have anyone else. I didn't mean to cheat on your, Ryan. It was a terrible accident…Please…" I couldn't believe this woman in front of me. What kind of man did she take me for? I'm not dumb. She likes the money, the house, the comfortable lifestyle I can give her. There's no love there. I don't feel it when we touch. I don't feel it when I'm inside her. I just never feel it…not like I did when I was with Taylor.

"No, Rebecca. I can't do that. I'm sorry." I shook my head getting up off of the bed. "Look, you can keep the house. I'll help you out whenever you need it but I can't marry you, not after this…"

"Why would you do that?" She sat up looking at me.

"Because you need it more than I do." I shrug at her.

"Where are you going to live?" She asks curiously. She had stopped crying and I knew that she had this planned all along. I could see it in her eyes that this is how she wanted things to go. She wanted this house, she wanted my money and nothing more. Part of me thought that she had only gotten pregnant to keep me around, to make sure I wouldn't leave her with nothing.

"Honestly, Rebecca don't worry about me. Just…have a nice life." I waved to her slightly before walking out of the room. I'd come get my stuff later, I didn't want to stay a second longer in that room with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Taylor's POV. Hmmm, I can smell drama coming in the near future.**

Chapter 8

I'm really not sure how I'm supposed to handle the fact that my ex-husband is sitting on my couch at 2 in the morning. This is not how I pictured my night going. Kelsey and I were going to just sit around and be lazy after her date. We were in the middle of watching one of her favorite movies when the doorbell rang.

"Ryan what are you doing here exactly?" I folded my arms across my chest standing in front of him.

"I left her…" He said looking down at his hands. My heart sunk hearing his words.

I'm really not sure how it happened but the next thing I knew my ex-husband and I were making out on my couch like a couple of teenagers. God, it felt so good to kiss him again.

I had missed his touch the past ten years. I missed everything about him. This was familiar and it was amazing. I didn't really realize what we were doing until my shirt was off and his pants were slowly being unbuttoned. I don't think I would have stopped if it weren't for the 'Oh my God' behind us. The both of us froze mid kiss. Ryan quickly handed me my shirt. I slipped it on and adjusted myself before finally going to get off of his lap. Instead he grabbed my hips and held me there. I gave him a strange look and looked down. "Oh…" I whispered.

"Mom…Daddy…" I turned my head slightly to see Kelsey with her arms folded against her chest and her eyes wide. "Oh my God, I have to go tell Jory!" She squealed running out of the room to her sister's room.

"What just happened?" I laughed turning back towards him and laying my head on his chest.

"What I've been dreaming of since you left…" He whispered. God, this was insane. I wanted to kiss him again but I felt like I didn't have the right to, not after what I had done to him, to our family. "I'm sorry." I think he saw the change on my face when I lifted my head up to look at him.

"I need you." I whispered. I don't know why I was doing this. I just knew that if he was here then I didn't want to let him go ever again. Even though we had so much to get through before we should even think about sleeping together but right now I didn't care. I didn't even care that the girls were in the house, which should probably have been my first concern but it wasn't. "I know we have so much to talk about Ryan, but right now all I need is you…"

"Let's go to your room." His eyes darkened as I stood up and grabbed his hand to help him up. "God, I've missed you." He pulled me into him before leaving the living room. Once in the hall we were met by our middle child.

"So, what's going on with the two of you?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Nothing." I smile.

"You are a terrible liar, mom. But I'm a bit confused. Earlier I find a pregnancy test in your bathroom, daddy and then you woke us up to leave Rebecca. And now you're kissing my mother." Wait, pregnancy test?

"It wasn't my kid." He tells her simply. Now I know we made a great decision in him getting that vasectomy. "She cheated on me…"

"Wow. Totally saw that one coming!" She laughed.

"Get to bed, Jordyn." I raise my eyebrow at her.

"Fine, I see when I'm not wanted." She turns around and heads towards her room. I smile back at Ryan before grabbing his hand again and pulling him towards my bedroom. I smile at him as I shut my door behind us. For some reason I'm nervous. I feel like a teenager about to have sex for the first time.

"Ryan…okay this is going to sound completely insane but…" I start messing with my hands as I bite the inside of my bottom lip nervously. "I haven't had sex since I left you."

"Didn't expect that one." He tells me giving me a slight smile. "But, it makes this so much better." He pulls me away from the door and more into the room.

I know in the morning I'm going to wonder why we did this but right now I don't want any second thoughts about it.

-

This is weird but it feels right. I haven't felt like this since leaving Ryan ten years ago. God, it felt good to be in his arms again feeling protected. I looked down at our intertwined bodies and wonder if anything would come of this. I don't know how Ryan sees this. If he just wants last night to be it or if he wants to be with me again.

I'm scared. I'm scared that something's going to happen and this isn't going to work. I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing and he'll leave. I don't want him to leave and I don't want to leave him, not again.

He stir's next to me startling me from my thoughts. I grin when I see that he's staring at me with a smile on his face. "Good Morning." He whispers putting his hand on the back of my head and running his hand through my hair. "I forgot how amazing it was to wake up to you in the morning." He said honestly. I know what he means.

"What are we doing? Isn't this…isn't this too fast or do you just want last night to remain last night and never happen again? Because Ryan I want to be with you but I can completely understand if you don't want to be with me, too. I left you…I broke up our family."

"I stayed up two hours after you fell asleep last night thinking about everything and honestly, Taylor, I need to be with this family again. I want us again. I want my daughters to see me everyday and I want to wake up to you every morning just like this. But there's so many things we need to talk about and get through before that can happen." He was right. We needed to put everything out there and figure it out before we did anything more.

"Did you love her?" I wasn't sure why I asked. I just had to.

"No, I didn't." He kissed my forehead. That was the answer I wanted to hear. I smiled at him.

"Why did you stay with her then?" I asked. He didn't seem bothered by my questions.

"I was lonely." He says simply.

"I never want you to feel lonely again." I whisper burying my head into his chest. He smells exactly the same as he had ten years ago.

We were pulled away from our conversation by a knock on the door. I realized that we hadn't locked the door. I looked up at Ryan and he started laughing. "Come in!" I yelled making sure the both of us were covered up. I made Ryan put on a shirt before one of our daughters bounded into our room.

"Didn't see this one coming. You two ruined my operation!" Kelsey stood in my bedroom doorway with her hands on her thin waist.

"Operation?" I asked confused.

"Operation ruin Daddy's wedding and make him realize he's in love with you." She said matter-of-factly like I was supposed to know what she was talking about. Ryan just started laughing at her. She gave him a slight glare that reminded me of him.

"I don't think you needed an operation for that one." He told her. I smiled. God, I never want to feel him not next to me ever again. "I've always known I loved your mother and as for the wedding…that was a mistake."

"I agree with you on that one, Daddy. Okay, now what is with Jory calling me yesterday and telling me Rebecca was pregnant?" Kelsey asked curiously.

"How exactly did she know about that?" He questioned her. I had wanted to ask her that the night before.

"She found the pregnancy test in your bathroom and it was positive."

"Well, she is pregnant and it's not mine. There is no possible way it could be mine." He tells me.

"I don't want to know." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Kelsey, did he call?" I had just remembered about her date the night before. It was cute watching my little girl have her first date! I had been wishing Ryan was there to share this experience but on second thought I wasn't sure if he would have even let her go on a date.

"Yes, he did." She smiled.

"Did who call?" Ryan sat up looking between both Kelsey and I.

"Jason…" She said biting her lip and looking at the ground.

"Who's Jason?" He questioned.

"Just a friend." She lied. No, Jason was definitely not just a friend.

I must admit that I searched the boys name on the internet and followed him around town a few times to make sure he was good enough for my baby. I hadn't found anything interesting out about him so I decided to just say yes to her dating him anyway.

"No boy is just a friend." Ryan's voice got deeper. Aw, this was cute. He was being protective.

"I am totally not doing this right now." She rolled her eyes and exited the room.

"Who's Jason?" He turned to me. I gave him a smile and patted his chest.

"Her boyfriend. Now don't get all macho Daddy on me…he's a good kid."

"And how would you know that?" He asked sharply.

"I checked him out, Ryan. Honestly you don't think I'd let my daughter go out with a freak." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Of course not…it's just…isn't she too young to date?" He asked. I laughed. Too young?

"Coming from the guy who basically lost his virginity at 13?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't say that, Taylor. You know Kelsey is different."

This was weird. How we were having such a comfortable conversation when we had barely spoken to each other in ten years. It was so weird that I liked it but it was also scary.

"She's not having sex, Ryan. I talked to her about it last night." I assured him.

"Oh God, please don't bring up Kelsey and sex." He groaned laying back on the pillow behind him.

"She's growing up, Ryan. She's going to do things and experiment and fall in love. We have to support her and trust that she'll make the right choices."

"Fine but I don't like this whole Kelsey dating thing. Let's make a deal that Millie will never date, we should lock her in her room until she's thirty."

"What about Jory?" I laugh.

"That's inevitable." He chuckled.

"I missed you." I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. He returned my kiss. We were almost to that point where clothes were about to be shed again when Jory entered the room.

"You should really close this door or better yet lock it." She rolled her eyes at us.

"Good Morning, Jory." Ryan grins as I pull away from him. We watched as Millie came in behind her sister.

"What are you doing here, still?" Millie asked with wide eyes. I laughed at how confused my little girl was.

"I stayed?" He scratched the top of his head.

"So, are you staying forever or are you leaving to go back to Rebecca?" She questioned. I loved my girls to death, especially their questions.

"It's too early to talk about forever but I'm never going back to Rebecca." He tells her.

"Good because honestly, Daddy she was all wrong for you. She smelled…and not in a good way." Millie scrunched up her nose as I laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

Taylor POV, again.

Chapter 9

I don't want to open my eyes just incase it was all a dream. Just in case I'm really not laying in the bed with my ex-husband. If it is a dream I really need to make it a reality because it's exactly what I want with him right now. I want him back in my life. I know I shouldn't be so selfish. I know I was the one to push him away and leave him but right now I don't want that to matter anymore. I just want us to work on this. To work on us being us again. I need my family back.

I decide that maybe opening my eyes would be a good thing. That maybe this isn't a dream. So I open them but the other side of my bed is empty. I could have sworn that Ryan had shown up the night before last and we had sex. I could have sworn we spent yesterday being lazy around the house with our girls.

I sit up in bed feeling defeated.

That is all until I hear the door open and Ryan comes through it. He's smiling and carrying in two suitcases with him. "I thought it was all a dream." I whispered to him. He dropped the bags on the floor and walked over to me. He sat on the edge of the bed and kissed my forehead.

"I left you a note." He laughed. I hadn't even looked at my nightstand. "I figured you would have woken up and freak out that I wasn't still here…"

"As long as it's not a dream then everything's okay."

"No, it's not a dream. This is real." He kissed me on my lips lightly.

"Good, now what are those?" I pulled away and pointed towards the bags that he had brought in.

"Clothes?" He shrugged.

"So…you're staying here?" I raised an eyebrow. He looked a little shocked that I asked.

"I mean…for a little bit I guess? I can get a hotel room if you need…I just thought…"

"You thought right. I just…I think we should talk…and soon." I twisted my hands together laying back down against my pillow. "I don't want anything else to happen between us until we do that…and I don't mean just a silly little banter between us I mean a real talk. A talk where everything that has happened between us since we married 17 years ago…all of it, okay? And you are not allowed to give me one words answers. I won't take it." I pointed my finger at him. He laughed at me before kissing my forehead and standing up.

"Got it, are the girls already at school? And why aren't you at work?" He questioned.

"They should be at school. I don't have any appointments today. I can work from home. And why aren't you at work?"

"It's my company. I can do what I want." He shrugged.

"Ryan…I mean…isn't this going to be a long drive for you to drive from here to Newport so much?" I asked him.

"Well, yeah but I can make it work. It's only an hour drive, half hour or so with traffic."

"If the girls weren't in school here and had all of their friends…and I didn't love my job…you know I would move to Newport, right?"

"I don't want us to move to Newport. LA is just fine." He tapped my nose with his finger.

"This is going to all work, right? We can be like we used to be, right?"

"All we can do is try. We're different now, though but I think we can make this work." He nodded resting his hands on his hips.

-

"So you're going to live with us now?" Kelsey pointed her fork at her father a few minutes after the five of us had sat down to eat dinner. "I should warn you about Jason if you are…" I rolled my eyes at Kelsey. My daughter was most worried about the way Jason looked and how Ryan was going to react to the fact that he in fact had a lip ring, his hair was a little long and he was a tiny bit dark. I really had never seen Kelsey with a guy like Jason but…my daughter is a little different. He's the type of guy that I could see Jory running after but I don't even want to think about my 13 year old with any guy right now. I'm really not looking forward to Jory once she reaches dating age.

"Warn me? Why? Your mom said he was a good guy." Ryan looked from me to Kelsey.

"He is, Daddy it's just…" Kelsey looked down at her plate messing with her food. "You are going to judge him when you meet him and I just want to go ahead and prepare you for…meeting him."

"I'll always judge any guy you date, so don't think this will be any different." He told her.

"Well…Jason's got a lip ring…but Daddy he's a good guy just because he has a lip ring doesn't mean he's a bad guy! Mom has met him and she really likes him. He's sweet and he wouldn't hurt a fly. Please don't embarrass me when you meet him, Daddy." Kelsey never rambled like that unless she was nervous and it was usually only with Ryan. Ryan let out a 'humph' before going back to eating his dinner. "No opinion?" She questioned him.

"You said he's a good guy. I trust you." He said this all looking me in the eyes. I gave him a smile happy that he wasn't going to freak out on our daughter or her little boyfriend.

"You do?" Both Jory and Kelsey asked at the same time.

"I wasn't expecting that one." Jory snorted. "I was waiting on a huge blow up. Plus I'm pretty sure you guys never saw your precious little Kelsey with a bad boy. Now me on the other hand…would you be angry if I like dated a biker? Say he had tattoos and did drugs?" I glared at Jory.

"Jory." Ryan scolded. "No biker's. No tattoos. No drugs." He pointed at her.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes before going back to eating.

"So…when Jason comes over later tonight to study you're going to be okay with that?" Kelsey slipped in. I had already told her could without telling Ryan.

"Sure." Ryan nodded. I could totally tell he wanted to say something else. He wanted to say that he wasn't allowed over. I could see it in his posture and how he had to close his mouth tightly so he wouldn't say anything that Kelsey would get upset over. "Just…work in the kitchen?"

"Of course." She nodded smiling. I had already told her she couldn't be alone in her room with him until I knew him better and before I could really trust him with her. "Thanks."

"Are you really going to date a biker with tattoos and who does drugs?" Millie innocently asked Jory. She had been pondering what her sister had said for the last five minutes. I laughed as Jory glared her down. "That would be funny…" She giggled out.

"Shut up, Millie." Jory stuck her tongue out at her little sister.

"Stop it, Jor." I scolded.

This was perfect, having my family all together eating dinner. It was strange how normal it felt. I don't deserve this, I really don't but I'm happy that I have it. I'm happy that we can maybe go back to being the family my girls have always needed. I want Millie to know what it's like to finish growing up with both of her parents and not just one.


	10. Chapter 10

**Reallyreally short chapter. I'm just trying to get back into writing this. I have an idea where i'm going with it now so expect another update Tuesday or Wednesday.**

Chapter 10

I'm watching as my ex-husband glances between the kitchen door and the TV sitting in front of us. Kelsey's in there doing her homework with Jason, which is really making Ryan uneasy since he can't quite see what's going on in there. I keep trying to calm him down but it's really not working. He keeps telling me he doesn't think this is such a good idea but I try to remind him Kelsey's a big girl and she can handle herself.

That's definitely a lost cause.

"If it makes you feel better you can go check on them. Although, Kelsey might think you don't trust her." I say with my arms folded over my chest hoping that the last part keeps him from out of the room.

"I could go in there." Millie speaks up standing up from her spot on the floor. I have a feeling my other two girls are getting tired of hearing Ryan go on and on about Kelsey and her boyfriend.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I give my little girl a smile.

"Are you going to do this when I start dating? Because that's going to be a huge problem for me." Jory spoke up from where she was sitting cross legged in the spot next to me on the sofa.

"And why is that? You're going to be treated just the same way as your sister." I tell her.

"You can not seriously tell me the two of you were innocent at our age. Considering the stories I've heard from Aunt Summer." I stare over at my daughter.

"What kind of stories?" I ask nervously. I hope to God Summer has left out a few things about Ryan and my past. "You know, Jory, you really shouldn't listen to Summer sometimes. She tends to go a little overboard with her story telling."

"God, mom. Paranoid much?" Jory rolled her eyes at me.

"Kelsey said that you shouldn't send me to spy on her and Jason. It's rude." Millie walked back into the living room with a bottle of water in her hands. "I simply told her that it was either me coming in or Daddy." Millie smiled before sitting down on the sofa next to her father who wrapped his arm around her. "I missed you, Daddy." I heard her whisper. My heart melted at the thought that I was the reason my girls didn't have their father around constantly for the past ten years. I'm the reason Ryan went off and tried to marry that whore of a woman. Everything's on me and I honestly just want this guilt to all go away but it seems to be eating me up inside. I'm wondering if we talk about it all if the guilt will go away. I can only hope.

Ryan suddenly jumped up from the sofa when a giggle erupted from the kitchen. I grabbed for his arm when he started to walk in there.

"Don't." I tell him.

"How can you allow this? She's too young." He snatched his arm away from me which completely surprised me.

"I can allow this because I trust our daughter." I put my hand back on the spot from just seconds before. This time he didn't pull away. He sat back down on the sofa before pulling me back down next to him.

"You're right. I trust her too." He let out an easy sigh before pulling me close to him.

"Well, that was convincing." I laughed.

"I don't have a choice." He shrugged. "Plus, I trust that you'd make the right decision on this." He kissed my temple.

"Thank you." I grin.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hum, writing this is making my hands itch to write a sequal to Learn To Love Again, but I think i'll wait on that one...I'm just really missing writing it...anyway. lot's of dialogue this chapter. I'm planning a talk between Ryan and his daughter's next chapter...**

Chapter 11

"I think it's time we talk." I twist my hands nervously as I bite down on my bottom lip. I've been sitting up in bed for the past three hours thinking about what to say. I glance at the clock and realize it's way past two am and he's probably sleeping. It's now or never. I reach over and shake his body. He mumbles something but flips around to face me. He's still sleeping. I lean over and whisper in his ear.

"What time is it?" He opens his eyes quickly.

"Time that we have that talk." I grin. He looks over me at the clock and groans. "Come on sleepy head, you've been here for almost two weeks and we haven't even talked about this." I motion between us. "I'm starting to think you're just using me." I joke raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're right. That's exactly what I'm doing." He nods but closes his eyes again.

"No, you can't sleep. If we don't do this now then we won't ever talk!" I shake him again.

"I missed this." He laughed opening his eyes again. "You used to do this when we were married."

"I guess I haven't changed much in that sense." I shrug. I watched as he sat up in bed rubbing at his eyes. He motioned for me to get closer. "Have I changed that much?" I questioned.

"Sure, we both have."

"I mean big changes? Changes like you can't stand being around me anymore." I rested my head on his chest as he leaned his head against the wall.

"If I couldn't stand you I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here right now."

"So, that talk." I laughed nervously. "Maybe we should start with why I left."

"I know why you left, you thought I worked too much. Didn't pay attention to the girls." He said tensing up a little.

"I was scared and still young. You were never home, Ryan, I was about to have my third daughter with a man that barely acknowledged I was around. You were keeping me there for comfort, or at least that's how I was feeling."

"I was keeping you there because I loved you and our daughters. That's why I worked, Taylor. I didn't mean to become a workaholic…it just sort of happened."

"I bet you hated me after I left." I sighed.

"No, I could never hate you. I was disappointed that I didn't fight for us more. You might have been the one that left but I'm the one that let you. I shouldn't have done that." He pulled me closer as if I were going to leave him any second.

"I shouldn't have left."

"If you didn't leave then, you would have left eventually."

"How do you figure?" I looked up into his eyes.

"It's just how things work but now I'm not going to let that happen. I swear I won't let you leave me, not again."

"I don't think the girls or I could handle that. They adore you." I smiled.

"You've done an amazing job with them." He looked away. I know he felt bad for not being there through the years with them. Once again that was all my fault.

"You're a great father and I should have let you have more to do with them then just two days every two weeks. That was wrong of me, maybe I should I have stayed in Newport with them."

"We can't really change the past, so why worry about that now?"

"Ryan, I wouldn't let you watch your daughter being born. How could you not hate me?" I pulled away a little but he wouldn't have it. He just grabbed me back and pressed my body against his.

"You were hurt, I don't know if I would have been there anyway. I was hurt, too." He whispered.

"You should have been there. I'm such a terrible mom." I whispered back.

"Don't say that, because you aren't. Far from it."

"Have you seen Jory?"

"She's a little…different." He said trying to look for the right word to describe our daughter.

"Sometimes I wonder how I went wrong with that one."

"She's a strong girl, this is just a phase."

"I sure hope it's over soon, because if you have to worry about any of our daughters being sexually active so young she's the one you'll have to lock away." I smile a little. "I don't know why you're so worried about Kelsey, Ry. She's got so much strength in her, so much…of you."

"I think it's because I still see her as that little five year old…the one who used to let me hold her and read to her before she went to sleep."

"You know, after we moved here, Kelsey wouldn't let me read to her. She said that you were the only one who was allowed to read her bedtime stories and then the little five year old she was threw the book at me. I don't think I've ever cried so much." I said remembering those few months that Kelsey barely spoke to me. Even at five you could tell she was Ryan's daughter.

"She threw a book at you?"

"A few." I laughed. "There was this one time she called me a mean mommy. That was a very…weird day. Summer had come over and she and I were in the kitchen talking, Kelsey just stumped in and started yelling at me. She was six by this point. I don't even know what provoked her. I was too upset to care…I still to this day don't know what it was about."

"The first night the girls stayed with me, Kelsey cried the whole time. Jory wouldn't let me put her down and well…Millie was an infant so she was crying right along with Kelsey." He confessed. I had always wondered how things were when the girls stayed with him those first few months or even years.

"I bet that was hard. Having to take care of all three of them alone." I traced circles on his chest. "Sometimes I wonder how I even did it."

"Because you're much stronger in that sense than I am."

"How did we end up with three daughters? I thought Atwood's only had boys." I laughed raising an eyebrow at him. God, he was amazing. His eyes still held that…look…the same one they had all those years ago when we were happy and married.

"So did I." He smiled.

"Now, let's talk about that little…whore you were going to marry." I scrunched my nose up thinking about her.

"That was a mistake." He spoke firmly. "And it makes me happy that…I couldn't have kids with you."

"I completely agree because if you could then you wouldn't be here, would you?"

"I don't know. I'd like to think I would but…I don't think I could leave another one of my kids…" He looked away.

"See this is all my fault. If it weren't for me you wouldn't even have had to be in that whole…thing with her." I sat up from him and threw my hands up.

"Taylor." He laughed wrapping his arms around my waist. "She filled my time…but I want you to know I've never felt about someone how I feel about you." He kissed the side of my head.

"That's nice to know." I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Before it could get too heated I pulled away. I was still wanting to talk some more. This wasn't over, not yet. "So, how much did everyone hate her?"

"You saw how Jory treated her. That's pretty much how it was with everyone." He smiled again. What an amazing smile he had. "The Cohen's never really said they didn't like her but I know they didn't. The way Kirsten would scrunch her nose whenever Rebecca was around or the way she'd say something back to her if she said anything about you."

"Wait, she bad mouthed me?"

"Well, she was jealous. Rebecca knew she and I wouldn't have what you and I had."

"Did you tell her that?" I asked curiously.

"Once or twice, when I was angry with her. Usually it came up in fights." He said.

"You fought a lot?"

"Mostly." He shrugged.

"Now, can I ask why a woman 15 years younger than you?"

"I didn't know she was so young." He groaned looking away from me before laughing. "But then…it just all went fast and she was moving in. It never mattered after that."

"I never dated anyone after I left you." I confessed.

"Why not? You're not a bad catch." He laughed pulling his hand through my hair.

"It's not that, it's I had the girls to think about. The last thing I wanted to do was bring some stranger in on them. Someone I know they would hate…just because that person wouldn't be you." I said biting down on my lower lip again.

"If only I had been that smart."

"I understand why you went to her." He kissed the top of my head once again before laying down and pulling me back down with him. "What do you think Summer told Jory about when we were younger?"

"God, I don't even want to know." He groaned.

"I'm curious. We weren't that bad were we?" I grinned.

"We were worse." That's the last thing I remember him saying before I shut my eyes and fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Ryan's POV. Not exactly the conversation I had in my mind but this is what my fingers typed.

* * *

Chapter 12

"How do you know you're in love?" Kelsey's voice came from behind me. I had just shuffled my way into the kitchen to make some coffee when she walked in behind me. It had taken me over three hours to fall asleep after the talk I had with Taylor. Which meant I only had thirty minutes to sleep before I had to get up. Needless to say I had slept through the alarm clock and was woken up by Millie coming into the room to ask Taylor about something.

Her question hadn't registered in my mind right away, not until I was pouring the coffee into the mug.

"What did you ask me?" I turned around to see Kelsey standing at the island stuffing cereal into her mouth.

"I have this friend, she thinks she's in love and she asked me…but I have no idea so I'm asking you." She looked up at me. I could tell she was lying through her teeth. Kelsey couldn't lie. She was terrible at it, especially the way she shifted uncomfortably in front of me.

"A friend, huh?" I ran a hand through my hair. "What's this 'friends' name?"

"Oh, her name? Uhm…her name is…Kelly." I snorted when she stumbled on her words. If that wasn't obvious.

"You're not in love. It's just…I don't know what it is, but it's not love." I told her nervously. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" I figured that was a good enough excuse to cut the 'love' conversation short. I can barely handle her dating this guy, but love?

"I knew I shouldn't have asked you." She huffed throwing her hands in the air.

"Then why did you ask me?"

"Because, if I asked Mom then she'd get all excited and start talking all about…her experiences with love and I wanted to avoid that…" She looked down.

"I'm sure she'd be better at this then me." I told her.

"Are you that freaked out about me and Jason?" She questioned.

I nodded, "Completely freaked out." She rolled her eyes at me before putting sporting a huge grin on her face.

"He's a great guy, and honestly, Daddy I think it is love…"

"It can't be. You're too young." That made her grin disappear. She was her mother's daughter in every way, especially how she seemed to shoot daggers at me with her glare. "Talk to your Mom. She'll handle this better, I'll just end up saying something wrong." I threw my hands up in defeat.

"How did you know you were in love with Mom, when you first married her." She softened her face.

What was I supposed to tell her? I wasn't even sure how I knew then or how I even know now.

"I…" I started but Taylor walked into the kitchen. "Look it's your mom." I said a little loudly hoping that this would be a better approach at dropping this conversation with Kelsey.

"What's going on?" Taylor looked at both of us suspiciously.

"Nothing, coffee?" I handed a mug over to her.

"I was just asking Daddy here how he knew he was in love with you."

_Great._

"I asked him the same thing when we first got married, he said he didn't know. I'm pretty sure he still doesn't." Taylor smirked.

"Kelsey thinks she's in love." I pointed over at my daughter like I was a child. Taylor's eyes widened. "See, my exact reaction."

"Love?!" Taylor asked excitedly. Maybe Kelsey was right, Taylor would get excited about this. "How do you know?"

"She doesn't know, she's not in love. This conversations over." I placed my cup on the counter before looking over at my ex-wife and then at our daughter.

"You can't even describe how much you love mom so how would you know?" Kelsey raised her voice again.

"We'll talk about this later, if you don't hurry up you'll be late for school." Taylor rushed her out of the kitchen then turned to me. "I will handle this." She placed her hand on my chest.

"You'll just encourage her, I will handle this. She doesn't know what she's talking about, i'll make sure i explain that to her. Maybe I should talk to this guy..."

"And you'll just upset her." Taylor looked up at me. "Where's Jory and Millie? They should be getting ready to leave, too." She pulled her hand away. Then we heard both of the girls yelling bye. "Never mind."

"I have to get to work, we'll talk about this tonight." I kissed her forehead.

"Talk about what? How Kelsey's in love?" She grinned.

"She's not in love."


	13. Chapter 13

I hope you guys like where this is going? Part of me thinks it's going too well for them. After ten years you'd think there was something different that they couldn't get used to but I don't know. What do you think? Keep it drama free between them as a couple or create something they can fight about? They'll end up together in the end either way.

* * *

Chapter 13

"What are we?" I call him two hours after I'm sitting at my office. I just got finished with my first client for the day and I had been thinking about things. I needed to ask him something. I barely let him get the hello in.

"_What do you mean?"_

"I mean do I call you my ex-husband, boyfriend or do I call you my babies daddy? I need an answer." I probably sound insane.

"_Babies Daddy? Where did you hear that one?" _

"Kelsey and I were watching Maury and one of those paternity episodes were on. Now answer my question, Atwood." I press on.

"_I don't know what to say." _

"When people ask me what you are to me, I need to know what to say." I press on. I don't know if it's an insecure thing or what but I really just need to know, I just need to hear him say it.

"_You want to put a label on us?"_

"Basically."

"_Won't that make things more difficult?"_

"It will ease my nerves, that's what it will do." I say.

"_You're scared, aren't you?"_

"Why wouldn't I be? I mean it didn't work out the last time so why should it now? So, come on, out with it what are we?"

"_We're together. You're the only woman I will ever be with again, good enough?"_

"You sound weird. What's wrong?"

"_Nothings wrong, baby. I'll just see you at home, okay?"_ I smiled hearing him say 'home' before hanging up the phone. I'm still not satisfied enough with his answer.

-

"Hey, Kelsey." I say smiling as my daughter opens the car door and throws her bag in. "Okay, what's wrong?" I ask as she closes it with anger.

"Nothings wrong, just had a bad day at school." She says looking ahead of her. "Thanks for picking me up." She says before looking out the window and sighing. Something's definitely wrong.

"You and Jason okay?" I ask as I start driving.

"Perfect." She says a little sarcastically.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened, Mom!" She yells turning her head at me. She's been crying.

"So why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying." She wipes quickly at her cheeks and her eyes. "I just had something stuck in my eye."

"I remember using that answer before." I say hoping she'll tell me more. I really want to know what happened.

"Can you just stop talking to me?" She turns her head back towards the window.

-

"She was crying." I say chopping the tomato on the counter. "I don't even know why."

"She's a teenage girl, isn't that normal?" He shrugs from the stove.

"I don't know. I wasn't much of a crier growing up." I shrug.

"Probably because your mom was a bitch." He says looking over at me with a smile.

"You might be right about that one." I smile back.

"I know. Maybe you should just ask her." He says.

"I tried that one. She basically told me to shut up." I said turning around and leaning my back against the counter.

"I'll talk to her." I think about it for a minute. I was going to protest but then I thought differently of it. Maybe she would talk to Ryan, she's always liked her father more then she's liked me. Obviously that should be clear since he was the one she went to talk to when she wanted to talk about love.

I'm trying to pretend like that doesn't hurt.

This is really weird for me, sharing the girls. I know it sounds selfish but for so long they were all mine, I had them to myself. I was the one who made the decisions, alone. Now I have to talk to Ryan before I do anything. It's just weird…and actually in a way it's comforting.

"Wait until after dinner." I say. He looks a little surprised that I'm agreeing with him.

"Alright, but if she brings up love just know I'm not going to be nice." He raises his eyebrows at me.

"I know." I laugh. "Do whatever you think is right." I say confidently.

"I don't think we need a label, Taylor. We work better without one." He says quickly taking a me little off guard.

"I know. Just feeling a little scared. Losing you again wouldn't be fun."

"You aren't going to lose me again, label or no label."

"Okay, but just for introducing purposes you're my amazing boyfriend." I smile walking towards him.

"I can deal with that one but alone…"

"We aren't labeled." I say.

"Good." He leans over and kisses my forehead. "Even though in a way that is being labeled."

"Deal with it, Atwood." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Fine, Townsend." He laughs.

"It's not Townsend." I say taking the spoon he was using to stir the sauce with. "It's still Atwood."

"You didn't change it back?" He sounds surprised.

"The second I married you I stopped being a Townsend. Plus, I didn't want to confuse the girls even more." I say truthfully.

"I'm glad you kept it." He stands behind me and pulls me into his body. I lean my head against his chest.

"Me too." I sigh feeling more than complete in that moment.

"Is dinner ready yet?" I look back to notice Jory has entered the kitchen.

"Not yet, half an hour and it should be." I turned back towards the stove.

"Cool, so…did you either of you et a call from the school today?" Jory asked nervously. Ryan and I both turned around to looked at her.

"Not that I know of, why would the school call?" I asked her.

"Oh, no reason!" Jory laughed nervously fidgeting with her hands.

"You're as good a liar as your father and sister are. Something happened, tell me now." I handed the spoon back to Ryan.

"Nothing happened, Mom." Jory tried to leave the room.

"Stop right there." Ryan's voice rumbled through the room startling both Jory and I. "Start talking."

"I'm sure the dean with call you so just…wait for that." Jory tried.

"Not the right answer. Sit down. Talk." He dropped what he was doing and folded his arms going into full father mode.

It was kind of sexy seeing him like this.

"It's nothing." Jory shook her head not sitting down.

"It's something." Ryan replied.

"I…sort of…cut this girls hair?" She winced at her own voice. I stood there confused.

"Cut a girls hair?" Ryan got closer to her.

"She was sitting in front of me and complaining about it so…I cut it off." She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"Get to your room." I was trying to keep my tone even but I don't think it was working too well. This wasn't like Jory, sure she was a little bit of trouble but cutting someone's hair off.

As soon as Jory left the room Ryan started to laugh.

"You're laughing because?" I went back to the stove.

"I wasn't expecting that one."

"What are we going to do about it? I've never really grounded them before and she's definitely not getting away with this." I say.

"I'll call the school tomorrow to see what really happened. For now she's grounded." He shrugged.

"Good idea." I nod. Part of me is happy that Ryan's the one having to administer the punishment for what Jory had done. "You should go do that now."

-

I don't think we've ever had such a quiet dinner.

Jory isn't eating.

Kelsey refuses to look at anyone.

Millie won't tear her eyes away from the book she's reading.

Ryan's just…sitting there.

"Okay, someone has to talk before I go insane." I drop my fork on the table.

"You mean you're not already insane?" Jory speaks up.

"Don't talk to your mother like that." Ryan says quickly.

I'm really happy he's home.

Really, Really, happy.


	14. Chapter 14

This chapter is dedicated to NADINE for suggesting that I show some of Jory's feelings about Ryan grounding her. I had meant to do this in her point of view but then this sort of wrote itself. I hope you guys like it, i'm very nervous about posting this chapter. Thank you for all of you reviews, too!

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Chapter 14

"Can we talk, Jory?" I knocked lightly on her door. Her door was already open so I stepped in. I hadn't even seen her room since I've been staying here.

It's dark.

And depressing.

I really don't know how this girl got this way. Was it something her mother and I did?

Or is this just Jory trying to rebel?

I don't know, I don't know much about raising teenager daughters. It's a scary thing.

"Sure." She shrugs from her bed. I watch as she sketches something on the notepad she has propped up on her knees. She doesn't look up at me.

"Why are you mad at your mom?" I sit down on the bed.

"She let you do her dirty work." This girl was blunt. Truthful, reminded me a lot about her mom. "She wants you to be bad guy. Right now you are and it's not fair that I'm grounded." She huffed.

"I think it's very fair, considering you cut some girls hair off."

"She was asking for it!" Jory sat up and threw the notepad across the room. "She's so perfect. Her perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect body. Perfect everything. Everyone in that freaking school worships her. It's about time people see her as a normal person. She's no different then me. So, I cut some of her hair off, so what? It's not like it doesn't grow back."

"That might be true but that really doesn't give you the right to cut it." I try. I don't think my words are getting through this girls thick skull.

"You still shouldn't ground me. I'm really not liking you right now so would you please leave me alone." She says harshly. I just shake my head and keep my body on her bed.

"I'm not going anywhere. What's going on, Jor? Why are you acting out?" I need her to talk to me. I need her to say something that will make me understand what goes on in that head of hers.

"I'm not acting out, now please leave." She clenches her teeth together.

"Is it because I haven't been around? Do you hate your mother. What?" I press on. I'm not usually like this but something about her behavior is leaving me to know answers. I understand when someone just doesn't want to talk but I can't let that be Jory's case. I won't let her do what I did and keep things bottled up. She'll just explode one day. It won't be a good thing.

That's when I caught sight of her wrist.

How in the hell had I not noticed that before.

I reach my hand out but she pulls hers away so I can't touch her.

"Leave." Tears are starting to form in her eyes. I see that little girl that I used to hold tightly to me when she couldn't sleep. I see the little girl who loved being spun around until she almost threw up.

"I am your father, Jory. I can't let you do this."

"Some father you've been! You didn't even fight to stay with us, Dad! You didn't care! You're just back because things backfired with Rebecca."

She's wrong.

As much as I won't admit it out loud I love her mother.

I love my daughters.

"Why are you cutting, Jory?" It comes out more of a whisper, I hadn't really intended that. She just glares at me.

"You don't get it, do you?" She shakes her head violently.

"What don't I get?"

"That I don't want you here. We were all doing just fine without you."

Her words hurt. Real bad.

"You started doing that because of me?" I gulp.

"No, I did it because no one cares about me. I'm the middle child. I'm the one everyone looks over. I'm the one mom doesn't care about, the one you never hug or kiss. I did this because it makes me feel better."

I don't think I can handle this.

I'm usually strong in situations like this but…this…is big. This is something I wasn't expecting from my little girl.

"You're going to stop whatever you're doing. You're wrong, we don't overlook you. I love you more than anything, Jory. Every time your mother or I even try to show affection for you, you pull away." I don't know what else to say.

I'm not doing well with this.

Not at all.

"Whatever" She mumbles.

What else am I supposed to do? What do I say in a situation like this?

I need Taylor.

She'll know what to do.

"You're still grounded…" I say standing up from her bed.

"Good, that way I don't have to leave this freaking room and see your face!"

She's really good at using words to break my heart.

That's exactly what she's doing.

-

"She's cutting." Taylor's sitting on the bed pulling her shirt over her head.

"Who's cutting?" She looked confused.

"Jory." I say remembering I was supposed to talk to Kelsey about what was going on, I had completely forgotten that after my talk with Jory. "She's cutting. It's my fault."

"What?" Taylor just sits there in disbelief.

"She's…Taylor what do we do?"

"I'll…I don't know. God, I am a freaking therapist for crying out loud! I should know how to handle my daughter, but I don't. I'm at a loss of what to do or say. Even to you." She looks up at me and I know she's searching for something in my eyes.

"She says we overlook her." I sit down next to her.

"I'm a failure." Taylor leaned her head against my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her bare waist.

"This isn't your fault, Taylor. God, if anyone is to blame it's me. All these years I could have spent with you guys. I could have prevented this from happening. Prevented my daughter from feeling…alone."

"Don't. Ryan, don't put the blame all on yourself. Don't, please." She's almost begging.

"I can't help it." I whisper.

"I know." She nods before crying into my shoulder.

-

Taylor cried herself to sleep the night before.

I woke up to the girls talking loud in the living room. It sounded like yelling. I quickly pulled my clothes on to check out the situation.

I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost 10. I had completely forgotten it was Saturday.

"What's going on?" I enter the living room.

"Nothing!" Jory yells at me.

"Doesn't sound like nothing." I walk closer to them.

"Just but out, Dad." I've never heard Kelsey speak to me like that before. She's never raised her voice to me, she's never disrespected me in any way.

I'm totally and completely out of my element in a house full of women.


	15. Chapter 15

I've been sick the past couple of weeks, which is why I haven't posted in awhile. This chapter isn't my best but hopefully I will get back into the swing of things soon enough. Within the next week I'll be posting on all of my stories.

Chapter 15

"Hey, Mom. Can we talk?" Kelsey walks into the living room where I'm sitting on the couch going through papers for work. With the girls out of school for the summer I want to spend as much time with them as possible, basically by cutting my hours at work a little.

"Of course." I grin. At least one of my daughters is speaking to me. Millie hasn't even said anything to me all day, which is really strange for my youngest. She usually talks to me about everything and anything.

"Okay, well it's about Jason. Wait, whatever I say here is just between the two of us, right? You aren't going to tell Daddy, right?"

"I won't." I take her hand and squeeze it. I don't want to lose my daughter's trust, I know some things are meant for only my ears. Especially about her boyfriend.

"Good." She nods. "I was, we were…I think I'm ready to you know…" She ducks her head.

"What?" I'm a little confused. I really hope my fifteen year old daughter isn't talking about what I think she's talking about. "Sex?"

"Yeah, that." She says. "I know I really like Jason, possibly love but there's a slight problem in all of this."

"Yeah, you're fifteen. That's the problem." I'm really starting to sound like Ryan. I understand that my little girl is growing up and I need to let her but I know that if she jumps into this so quickly she'll only get her.

"Don't, Mom. You were fifteen." She points out.

"Yeah, I was but I was also stupid. It was a terrible decision, Kelsey." I try.

"And you also jumped into bed with Daddy the same exact day you two saw each other in Berkeley."

"Who told you that?"

"Aunt Summer, Uncle Seth. They like to talk." She shrugs. "This isn't about you right now though, this is about the fact that Jason won't…you know."

"You can't even say the word, Kelsey. That shows you aren't ready, among plenty of other things."

I don't want her to go through what I had gone through at her age. I don't want her to regret doing this for the rest of her teenage years. I used to wish I had waited until I met Ryan. Of course that wasn't for another three years but it would have been more special. So, Kelsey might be right about Ryan and I jumping into bed right away but it was different. Much more different then this situation. I was also older and more mature. I could handle whatever happened. Kelsey might be strong but I don't think she could handle this just yet.

"God, it's not even a big deal. It's just two people…"

I had to stop her.

"No, it is not just two people just doing it. It's so much more then that, Kelsey! There's just so many things you need to consider before going through with it. Like STD's, pregnancy. Even consider the fact that at fifteen you will possibly regret this."

"I don't think I will."

"You'll wish you waited. You'll wish you didn't just jump into it."

"I'm done with this." She said getting up. I went to reach for her arm but she just shrugged me off. "You have no right to tell me any of this, Mom. It's a little hypocritical don't you think?"

"I just don't want you to make the same mistakes as I did. I'm not going to let that happen either, Kelsey. You're not me."

"That's a good thing." She muttered and walked off.


	16. Chapter 16

I'm not sure why but this story had become difficult for me to write. Hopefully I can get back into the groove of writing it, I have so many plans for this story. Thank you to those who are still reading and reviewing.

Chapter 16

I walked through the front door setting my things down before pulling at my tie. I had gotten a call from Taylor an hour before asking me what she had done to deserve teenage daughters. She sounded distraught. I offered to come home but she said it wasn't a big deal. I tried throwing myself back into my work but ended up only being able to think about my ex-wife and our daughters.

"Taylor?" I called through the house not seeing anyone in the kitchen or the living room. I rounded the corner to see Taylor sitting outside with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was staring out across the backyard where our youngest daughter sat underneath a tree with her nose in a book.

"I want her to stay as innocent as possible." She whispered after I stepped out of the back door.

"What's going on?"

"Ryan, what are you doing home?" I realized that she hadn't even noticed I was home before. She hadn't meant for me to hear that about Millie.

"You sounded upset on the phone." I shrug walking over and sitting down next to her.

"You didn't need to come home." She gives me a smile before pulling herself close to me. "But I'm glad you did."

"Is everything alright?" I question.

"Do you ever wish that we could go back? Go back to the days when the girls were little and Millie wasn't even born yet? I do. I wish I could take it all back. Maybe that's why my daughter's are acting like they are. Maybe it's payback for leaving you." She says not looking at me but keeping her eyes on Millie.

"What happened?" I demand pulling away from her a little. She just shakes her head and tries to get closer to me. "Is this about Jory?"

"And Kelsey." She says barely above a whisper.

"What's going on with her now?" I groan. For some reason I feel like what Taylor might be about to tell me isn't something good.

"You know what? I really should start on dinner." She pulls away from me and starts to stand up but I grab at her wrist.

"It's barely three." I say trying to pull her back down. "What are you not telling me?" My voice is probably a little too harsh but I'm starting to feel a little nervous.

"I was thinking about making a roast. You know that could take hours." She says nervously pulling against my restraint. She finally gets her wrist out of my grip. She just shoots me a glare before stalking off into the house.

I take a deep breath before resting my head in my hands. I feel a light tap on my shoulder pulling me away from my many thoughts.

"Daddy, you okay?" My ten year olds voice seemed to soothe my nerves.

"Yeah, baby. I'm fine." I give her a smile.

"It's not nice to lie." Her scowl reminds me of her mother. I let out a small laugh before pulling her onto my lap. She wraps her arms around my neck burying her face in my shoulder.

"Just grown up things." I tell her.

"Oh." She mumbles. I just sit there with her in my arms for how long I'm not even sure. I don't even notice that her breathing has evened out. I lift my little girl up and carry her back into the house.

"She's asleep?" Taylor meets me at the backdoor.

"Yeah." I nod walking past her and through the house to reach the stairs.

As I walked up the stairs I heard our fifteen year old daughter talking to someone. Not hearing anyone else I quickly realized she was on the phone. Hearing her girlish giggles made me smile. I hadn't heard her laugh like that since she was a little girl. This time though it wasn't me that had caused those giggles, not like I had when she was a child.

I just shake my head and walk past her room knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to listen in on her conversation. That was something Taylor would do and it usually just caused trouble anyway.

I return downstairs to find Taylor sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. Her body is shaking as I hear sobs erupt from her body.

"Taylor." I let out. She jumps a little but looks up at me. Her eyes are blood shot and her cheeks are stained with tears. "What's going on? Just tell me." I walk over and wrap my arms around her. She tries to push away from me but I'm not letting her.

"Nothing, it's nothing." She shakes her head wiping at her eyes frantically.

"You're crying, so I know it's something." I say as she finally buries her face in my chest. I hear her mumble something but it's not loud enough for me to hear. "What was that?" I push her away a little so I can look at her face.

"She's too young." I'm confused by this but she doesn't go on just slams her head back on my chest.

"Taylor, look at me." I grip her shoulders.

"I'm a terrible mother, Ryan. I could have prevented all of this. Maybe it's all because I hate my mother, yes that's it. I'm getting paid back." She lifts her head up.

"You're not a terrible mother, Taylor. Veronica was a terrible mother." I try but her head just slams back into my chest as I feel the tears starting to soak my shirt.

I hate when she cries. Which I know isn't often but none the less it still upsets me.


End file.
